


Lost in Paradise

by ShadowGirlLost22



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Peter Pan is NOBODY's DAD, Peter Pan is a Little Shit, Peter Pan is an immortal brat, Peter Pan is not Malcolm, Will probably be mostly Emma Swan-centric though, and people will be annoyed and hate him for it, gonna try my hand on Swan Queen, peter pan is not rumplestiltskin's father, who does not want to grow up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-04 23:08:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18822640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowGirlLost22/pseuds/ShadowGirlLost22
Summary: "There." Peter says. He's pointing at a star, a second star by the moon to the right. "Second Star to the Right. And Straight on till Morning." He's saying more, but Emma doesn't hear him. She suddenly recalls another memory. A woman's voice. "Where is that?" "Neverland" Hook? "MOOMM!" HENRY! Emma wakes up in a sweat. Neverland was not at all how she imagined it to be. Season 3 AU





	1. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma and the gang's journey to Neverland starts out anything but smooth. Emma is forced to confront pieces of her past and fears.

Emma Swan, age 30, blonde haired, medium build, and probably the most normal woman in the face of the Earth if one doesn't account for her foster care past and her bit of criminal record, never thought she'd be in this sort of situation.

The sort where you wake up in a sweat experiencing a million memories of your past only to come back to the present situation of the fact that her 11 year old son was kidnapped by two psycho magic hating goons and taken to Neverland of all places.

Taken to Neverland.

Yeah, it seems like her dreams were more realistic than her actual life.

Especially after she found out that her somewhat sweet if not a little delusional son was right about the fact that she was none other than the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, and the entire town he lived in was apparently inhabited by fairy tale creatures and characters from another land transported to the real world by an Evil Queen who casted a Dark Curse to get rid of all their happy endings and only Emma who was apparently born in said land can break it.

Well she broke it alright, and apparently, her somewhat sweet but delusional son wasn't delusional after all.

Though by that she was starting to question her own sanity, and just when she was somewhat getting used to the idea that somehow, she ended up in a real life Disney land with her life surrounded by Disney characters, she meets her ex again, then loses him, has to deal with the entire town being destroyed, and now her son is kidnapped.

To Neverland.

Life just can't give her a break can it? While Emma has come to believe her son in his every word, especially the whole fact that her life is now involved with fairy tale creatures and she's the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, something she still can't get used too, she still thinks that Henry was wrong about one thing.

Emma Swan is no savior. Saviors save worlds. Lives. So far it seems like Emma has been really failing at that, and breaking one lousy curse doesn't prove anything. She's failed so many times. She failed at keeping her foster parents. Her mom went and took her own life and her dad…

He went away."

"No she hasn't failed Henry. She will save him. This she vows. And she'll get through Neverland, and Hell, and whatever comes her way, she will get her son back. No matter what."

Once Hook had dropped the bean and the portal activated, all Emma could see were beautiful colors swimming along her vision. It was like swimming through a television set, though the colors melded together it looked like a thousand images flickering, moving, and slinking, blending with each other. It gave her a headache.

 

 

 

**August 15, 2001: Prison hospital in Phoenix Arizona**

 

 

The clock strikes 8:15 am as a wail is suddenly heard along the whitewashed walls. A voice urges.

Push!

"GAHHHHH!" came the scream of a sweat-slicked blonde-haired woman.

Unknown to most of the occupants in the room, the lights in the room starts flashing as she struggles through the surging pain of child birth. She's not even given sedatives to ease the pain. The cop next to her is perplexed by the faulty lights but thinks the hospital just needs to fix their lighting.

"Push!"

'I'm fucking pushing!' She practically roars in her head but instead opts for a grunt, gritting her teeth. 'You try pushing a several pound baby out of your-'"Ugh!" she grunts as another spike of pain goes through her. It feels like hours of pain and suddenly it was all over.

"Congratulations Miss Swan." Smiles the doctor. "It's a baby boy."

Emma looks dazedly at the doctor and the little head she could see protruding out of the little bundle of blankets he's holding.

"Do you want to hold him?" The doctor asked kindly almost as if the prison guards that surrounded the doors of the room, the warden who was by the blond lady, and the handcuffs that secured her to the bed so she wouldn't leave, wasn't there.

That question made Emma blink her eyes once more as tears started to well up and her throat started to become tight. The previous pain she was feeling at the lower half of her body was starting to fade into soreness, while a new pain started to well up in her heart.

A pain she would have given up for the previous one.

She wanted nothing more than to hold the baby, a feeling that frightens her because attachment is something she has become wary of especially when it came to people.

She doesn't remember anything she's ever kept for so long that she still has, or anyone who has a close relationship to her that is still around for her to rely on to be there.

And now she must be there for this little baby…

She looks at the cops and warden around her, the handcuffs binding her to the bed so she wouldn't go anywhere. Like she could even if she wanted too she scoffs mentally. She knew her situation well even if she did have a few months left.

She shakes her head as her throat tightens and she can't hold back the tears any longer.

She can't even if she wants too.

She knows this and yet she feels she's not strong enough.

She has never wanted something so bad.

"No." She answers before her warden could.

"Are you sure?" The doctor asked, his eyebrows scrunching up.

She nods slightly as tears flows down her face and she turns her head so she doesn't see the baby's face lest she changes her mind and everything would go for naught.

Emma closes her eyes to keep the tears at bay, gulps down a sob, and breathes out,

"I'm sure."

 

 

When she opens her eyes, she feels tears spilling down, and expecting to see a blue bassinet with a little baby in it, she sees a beautifully carved white oak casket with a pale body in it. The body is a beautiful woman, pale, with long dark hair, and dressed in pure white sleeping peacefully with a rose tucked underneath her enclosed hands crossed over her chest.

A man stands over it with hunched soldiers.

"I miss her. I wish she didn't have to go." Emma hears herself saying.

The man gives a painful exhale.

"I know." His voice cracks, "I miss her too."

 

 

She is now at a nursery full of children of all ages playing with toys. Emma is trying particularly hard to be the adorable girl everyone wants, the kind that plays with Barbie dolls and brush hair and has tea parties and what not though she doesn't particularly care for it. What she really wants is to go play with the boys of the foster home who is outside playing pirates and kicking soccer balls.

'Wait aren't I too old to play pirates' Emma thinks distractedly as she turns away from looking longingly at the boys who are playing around outside her window.

She is brought back from her musings as a young couple walks by with one of the foster care workers, the children's warden, showing them the new children in stock for them to take home.

The couple comes near Emma, and Emma is shocked to see that the couple is none other than Mary Margaret and David, coming in to see the kids to adopt.

They look at Emma and smile and a powerful surge of hope and joy fills her body.

The worker sees Mary Margaret and David's interest in Emma and comes forward.

"Emma is a wonderful girl to adopt. She's somewhat on the wild side, but has a big loving heart and a wild imagination. She can tell the most wonderful of stories, and is extremely intelligent. She was one of the first of the children to learn to read, and is exceeding her English and History classes. She will sure to make you very proud parents. We are rather confident her future will be great."

Emma is flattered despite knowing the woman is only saying these things to sell her off.

The couple looks at Emma, and Emma feels elated, because she knows for sure they'll take her.

These are her parents after all.

"She's a lovely girl, and we have no doubt we'll love her all the same, but we're not looking for an old child."

Mary Margaret gives Emma a sad apologetic smile. Her husband clutches her hand tightly.

And Emma just stares at them with shock and heartbreak reflecting her eyes.

"We want a baby. We want to feel the full joy of being parents and with one whom we can help nourish and grow. A child that can truly look at us and call us 'Mommy' and 'Daddy'. We want to experience everything there is to be parents." Mary Margaret says passionately and looks at David with a hopeful and teary expression.

All Emma can do is look with a gaping mouth and yell.

'But I called you 'Mom' and 'Dad'! Don't you remember!? At the mines in Storybrooke!"

They turn their back and walk away with the female worker, her cries deaf to their ears and all she can think is that she's old, too old for having parents, too old to be loved.

 

 

"Well you got to admit Ducky, you are pretty old." Peter grins.

She is laying in the grass at Central Park watching the sky turn from dusk to twilight. Late evening dog walkers, and parents gathering their children are heading home. Some of the shops across the street are closing, but Emma stays still and lays there, content about staying the night at the park.

"Go away." She replies.

She doesn't want to deal with Peter.

She just wants to lay there and pretend she doesn't exist.

"Come now. Laying there doesn't sound so fun. Are you going to lay there and sulk all day?" he asks. He receives silence as an answer, and sighs, "Look I know you're bummed about losing your dad and going back to the Home."

"Bummed!" She interrupts, laughing.

Her laugh sounds cold in the boy's ears.

"I'm not bummed! I should have expected it really. Every time I think maybe I might have a normal life, a family that might possibly love me-"She stops as her voice becomes choked up, and tears start filling her eyes.

Then she gathers herself and says, "I really should have expected it. I don't know where my father went but one thing is for sure…"

She looks at Peter resolutely.

"I'm not going back there. I'm tired of being rejected and abandoned, of people expecting me to be someone or something I'm not, just so I could sell myself, so they could love me. I'm tired of people judging me."

Peter looks at her with sympathetic eyes for once, and chuckles, "You really are an ugly duckling aren't you." He states this as a fact.

"I'm not ugly." She says.

She doesn't sound so confident when she says it.

"Of course, you're not. You're special. Those people just don't see it." Peter scoffs.

"My dad saw it. So, did my mom." Her voice sounds choked when she mentions her mom.

It's been practically a year and she's still not gotten over her mother's still got questions and blames herself for her foster mom's then she's gone down a deep depression unknown to her father, and has started doing things she shouldn't, being with people she shouldn't, like drugs and gangs.

Now that she thinks about it, that's probably where she first saw Peter.

"They're gone now though." He says softly to her.

She wonders idly if her father found out what she had been doing. If that's why he left her without a note or anything to tell her where he went. No that can't be it.

He must still be out there.

He has too!

Emma gets up with determination in her eyes hidden behind the spectacles of her black framed glasses.

"My dad's not gone. He's still out there." She says resolutely.

"Emma" Peter sighs.

"Tomorrow we'll keep looking. For clues, signs, evidence, anything! There's got to be a reason for his disappearance!"

"Emma the police have already been looking. Remember. They've been looking for months now! We've been looking for months now! If we haven't found him then-"

"THEN WHAT!?" She shouts at him, there's a rage behind her eyes, and the ginger haired boy finally shuts up.

"Then what Peter?" She asks quietly, "What happened to my father that would have him missing for months!?"

"He probably left" Peter suggests softly.

She scoffs at this, though this reason is what she fears the most.

That her foster father left her, abandoned her, just like so many people in her life. Maybe she wasn't enough. Maybe he wanted a better daughter, but she throws those thoughts in the garbage bin of her mind once it starts. She knows that those thoughts are just her insecurities speaking. These things blind her from the truth, and all she really wants right now is just to find out where her father is, and what happened to him!

"My father wouldn't up and leave me. Not without a reason."

"Perhaps he's dead."

Emma turns and glares scathingly at Peter who almost looks like he'll curl in fright from it. Almost. Emma's seen Peter fight some of the big boys in the gang she hangs out with after school. Peter is fierce like the red of his hair. He's not the type to cower over anything.

"He can't be. And if he is, I need to know how. I need to know why."

"Don't you think maybe it's sometimes better not to know?" Peter asks softly after a moment of silence. Emma is quiet.

"I feel like not knowing is the worst." She replies.

"But what would knowing do? Make you feel better?" Peter scoffs, "Often the truth is far worse than the lies we tell ourselves."

"Then what would you have me do. Accept that he left me!?" Emma yells helplessly. She feels the tears dripping down her cheeks.

Well she knew she couldn't hold them off for long.

She hates that she always should deal with this. For once she wishes she had someone who would be there for her, and help her get through the pain.

"No." Peter answers for her. He looks sympathetic once more, and Emma can't help feeling that the boy can read her mind for some reason.

"Accept that he's not coming back. The authorities are trying to find you Emma, they want to take you back to the foster care system. Do you really want to go through that again!? Having to wait for someone to accept you, want you, only for them to leave. That's what you've been going through your whole life, right? Going from house to house, like you're nothing more than a piece of luggage. You're more than that! We are more than that!"

He looks at her passionately with fire in his eyes and she can't help but not look away.

"They always leave Emma. That's what this world is full of. People who abandon you, leave you, betray you in a moment's notice." He says grimly, giving her the most serious expression she's ever seen on his face, "In this world you can't expect people to save you, to even love you unconditionally. You must make them. You must save yourself. You have to care for yourself because in the end no one else will."

Emma is quiet as she contemplates his words.

Peter then gets up and looks at her with a mischievous smile.

"Don't worry. We can always pretend we're not alone. That's the best way to live anyway. And I know a place that's great for pretending!" He grins at her, and Emma blushes despite herself.

"What are you going on about?" She scoffs, she has no time for his games but is willing to listen.

"What I'm saying is let's get out of here! Far away from here! Where there's no grownups, no police, no teachers or foster care workers to worry about. No laws, no rules, no one to tell us what to do or how to live! And no one to leave us. To tell us we're not good enough. Because we could be whoever we want to be! Think of anything we want, and it'll happen!" He finishes excitedly and beams at her.

Emma laughs. Peter is back to being the childish boy he usually is.

"And where," Emma asks grinning coyly. Suddenly she feels high in spirits. Peter has a talent in getting the feeling out of her and most people. She's practically jealous of his gift, but also grateful.

"Where is this place where we can be whoever we want?"

Peter smirks, and points to the skies. Emma gasps.

She's never been at the park late, so she's rather surprised at the stars twinkling in the night sky.

"There." Peter says.

He's pointing at a star, a second star by the moon to the right. "Second Star to the Right. And Straight on till Morning."

He's saying more, but Emma doesn't hear him.

She suddenly recalls another memory.

A woman's voice.

"Where is that?"

Regina?

"Neverland." Answers a man grimly.

Hook!

Neverland?

Neverland!

 

They are at the harbor again.

In Storybrooke. And all Emma's aware of is that she's running as fast as she can.

She must get to her son.

Henry's brown hair is just seen through the arms of the two anti-magic extremists who came to Storybrooke to destroy the town and it's magic.

Why do they want Henry?

"MOM!"

She's too late. Henry is gone.

With those two.

She doesn't want to believe it that she almost falls headfirst into the ocean if it wasn't for Regina and Mary Margaret pulling her back.

NOOOOOOO!

She's too late!

He's gone!

She's failed!

She's supposed to be the savior!

That's what Henry called her, right?

So why couldn't she save him?

Why couldn't she save Neal?

Why couldn't she save her foster parents!?

She couldn't save anyone!

Not even her son!

What kind of Savior is she?

 

 

 

**Present Day 2013, outskirts of Neverland**

 

 

Emma suddenly lurches forward with a gasp and throws up whatever was left of her stomach in a silver pail conveniently placed beside her bed.

"Easy there princess. We're barely through the worst of it. Don't empty your entire stomach." Says a female voice dripping with disdain.

Regina.

She gets up, and wipes the cold sweat off her brow.

"What the hell just happened?" Emma asks. She was pretty she wasn't ever drunk for the last few days so why does it feel like she's experiencing the worse hangover of her life.

"Hook says this is normal when coming to Neverland." Regina shrugs. She doesn't seem to understand it herself.

"Normal? Neverland?"

"Don't tell me you forgot our purpose for being here Ms. Swan?" Regina says mockingly and then chuckles darkly.

Emma looks at her blankly as she takes in her surroundings. With her headace also in the way, it was hard to focus in the dark gloom of what seemed to her a ship rocking back and forth, making her even more sick. She was on a bunk, with Regina sitting on the edge. There was an empty bunk from the right of her and and an open doorway behind Regina that led to probably more bunks. At the right of the hallway were stairs probably leading up deck.

'We're in the Jolly Roger' Emma remembers sluggishly, but is interrupted by her train of throught by the woman by her whose expression shows mocking sympathy at Emma's sorry state.

"I suppose the Savior isn't all that after all." The 5'5 dark haired Latina says, amused. "One dunk of going through this land's barrier spell or whatever that was, and you're already out of it."

Emma growls softly at the insult, but she doesn't say anything. Whatever that was, those dreams… they leave her quite shaken.

In her dark leather jacket, gloves, and business attire, Regina shakes her head and leans forward with a malicious smirk on her face.

"Hook says Neverland has a way of making you forget your purpose, your past, it takes away everything until your bare to the bone not sure who you are anymore. Where you start and where you end. If this takes so much out of you I highly doubt you'll be much help in rescuing my son."

The bed creaks as Regina gets up and she sneers down at Emma.

"I suggest you stay in bed and recover Miss Swan. Try to remain aware of yourself. Once I get my son from those bastards who dare to cross me, we'll be out of here in no time. And Henry will finally see who his real mother is."

"Excuse me!" The 29-year old blond all but snarls as she gets up from bed. Stumbling a bit as she walks towards Regina. "Henry is kidnapped out there in danger, and you're still treating all of this as a competition for his affection?!"

"I'm not treating this as anything! I'm pointing out which of us is more capable in making sure he's safe!"

"Oh! Like you're one to judge! He wouldn't be kidnapped if it weren't for you in the first place!" Emma practically yells back and for a moment she thinks Regina's going to argue otherwise until she says,

"I know."

Emma is slightly shocked by the admission.

"But I swear I'm going to make this right. I'm going to find him, and show him truly I'm worthy of being his mother." Regina says with such raw emotion that Emma can feel her face soften with a smile. Almost. She wasn't going to go soft on the Evil Queen.

She is never sure where she stands with Regina. A part of her is sure she hates the woman with every fiber of her being, after all she is the reason she's lived her life orphaned, and then there's the fact she her ruined her parents as well as many of the residents of Storybrooke's lives, enjoying it all the while. She even killed Graham!

A fact she isn't even sure how to stomach so she puts it away in the corner of her mind with the things she doesn't want to think about because she doesn't know how to deal with magic being real and that hearts can really be out of people's bodies while people are still breathing! And that Regina is in fact evil because as much as people say it she herself can't believe it with the amount of raw emotion she feels Regine exude from every fiber of her being.

Being the sort of person who puts walls up around her heart on a daily basis just so she won't feel so she won't get hurt, she can't help but admire that sort of inner strength. Regina's love is almost if not just as much as powerful as Mary Margaret's. Just different.

In some ways toxic. And it's that in which that layed the problem. And it's the sort of toxic Emma could understand because it's the reason she puts walls around her heart. The fear of abandonment. Of loss. And she wants to help so much with that, if Regina only lets her. Not just for herself, but for the one thing they have in common.

Henry.

And it's this one thing they share that makes her feel she can trust this woman. At least when it comes to Henry's safe return. This is the one thing they both share and it's this fact that takes a burden off Emma's shoulders. She knows she's not alone in this. Emma smiles.

"Yeah I know." Emma says softly. She controls the smile that threatens to come when she sees Regina's shocked face.

'Regina isn't used to people believing in her I guess' Emma thinks as she tells Regina this one token of comfort.

"We will find him." Emma pauses and doesn't say anymore. Somehow, she gets the feeling that if she says, 'our son', Regina will get defensive again so she drops it.

She isn't sure if Regina will ever accept her as Henry's second mother, but it's okay. The important thing is Henry being safe and away from those psychopaths who took him.

"And you are not the only one who wants to make sure those bastards get what's coming to them. I'm not letting you do this alone, whatever you think of me." Emma says.

To Emma's shock Regina smiles.

The moment is ruined when a gruff male voice coughs out, "If I'm not interrupting anything."

Emma sighs as she turns to the stairway by the bunks leading up deck.

"Hook." Regina's unimpressed voice rings out in the gloom. "I wondered when you'll be coming here to woo your way into Swan's bed."

Emma blushes while Hook sputters.

"I wasn't going to do no such thing! On the contrary, I was going to check if Miss Swan here was able to sleep off the effects of the barrier curse Pan put up around Neverland to those who are unwanted that enters."

"Barrier curse?" Emma asks, confused. Regina mentioned that earlier.

"Yes. It's been recently put when too many have entered Neverland from other worlds. It's too keep people out. Well mostly 'grown-ups' so he says."

"But you came here often, didn't you?" Emma asked curiously.

"Me!?" Hook asks astonished. "Gods, no! Well not now anyway. Back when I was a common resident of this land" Hook sneers, "That was when Pan and I had a certain understanding. It's not important right now. All you need to know is that no one comes in or out without Pan's permission. If they do, there's side effects. It's something we have to weather."

"So, Pan does want Henry." Regina says resolutely.

"Most likely… He does have a reputation of stealing children. Of course, most of the children he steals are lost or abandon to begin with. Hence, the Lost Boys, or the Lost Ones. People mostly assume Pan collects boys."

"He doesn't just take boys? There's Lost Girls too?" Emma asks curiously.

"Well there is now since Miss Darling came along. She gave Pan quite the impression that the stupid boy made up his mind that girls can be just as fierce as boys after all. Pan took an instant liking to her." Hook chuckled in a way that made Emma think that Pan's "instant liking" wasn't as how Hook phrased it. "Luckily for her she was able to leave and Pan couldn't stop the thought of her so he started bringing Lost Girls into the island to try to replace her presence."

"As interesting as that is." Regina interrupts before Emma gets a word in. "I think we should focus on how to get Henry back. I could care less about Pan's love life"

"Right." Hook says gruffly, clearing his throat. "Well. I can't tell you much love, except that you have a kidnapped child taken to Neverland so the only conclusion is those pair are either unwittingly working for Pan or…" Hook pauses…

"Or?" Emma asks wide eyed.

"Or… Well it's most likely Pan."

"Is there something you're not telling us pirate" Regina narrows her eyes. "Because if there is, I have ways of getting it out of you."

"What? Of course not. I'm telling you all I know." Hook chuckles seemingly unaffected by the threat much to Regina's annoyance and turns to the stairs leading to the deck.

"Don't worry my dears. I assure you, all is taken care of." Hook grins before climbing up. "After all I happen to not only be a leading expert in Neverland but also in crossing blows with Pan. And if there's one thing I'm looking forward to, it's finally to put that blasted boy into place. Trust me loves. I'm just as committed into this as you are."

And he's gone before Emma could get a word edgewise over the main goal being rescuing Henry and NOT killing little boys. Or girls.

"Well. At least we know he's on our side." Regina says as if Hook's remark didn't bother her.

"We're not here to kill Pan or any of the children working for Pan. We're here to rescue Henry."

"In case you weren't following what Hook was saying, there's a likelihood that Henry's kidnap might have been orchestrated by Pan himself. Which makes him OUR enemy. Including the Lost Boys and Girls working for Pan, probably the ones who will make sure we don't get Henry."

Emma forhead crinkles from that. Not sure how to stomach the idea of… The trolls from the Enchanted Forest was one thing, but this…

"This isn't the fairy tales you read as a little girl. This is real. Sometimes there isn't a moral way in saving the ones we love and beating the bad guy. People do get hurt. And it's always the bad guy. Or it's us if we let them by giving them the edgewise all because we're reluctant to do what we have to do. I know you're Snow White's daughter." Regina says and Emma blinks from that because she's heard this from nearly everyone but Regina and it's all so strange. "But word of advice. Don't be like her."

"What do you mean?" Emma asks curiously.

"I mean that your mother has always been soft and merciful when it came to her enemies." Regina says softly as her eyes lowers, more darker and somber then they ever were. "If she didn't spare me, you probably would have grown up with a mother and father in your life."

If Emma was shocked by Regina's admission before on her screw up with Henry, she's even more so now. She doesn't say anything as Regina turns away with her back to her.

"Right now, our bad guy is a spoilt evil child with a bunch of brainwashed children at his beck and call. So, if you aren't willing to spill blood to make sure our son is safe then don't worry. That's why I'm here. You just worry about getting Henry and us getting out."

"I know." Emma says, trying to stifle the happiness at Regina finally saying, "our son" even if it was by accident.

'She may not admit it but I'm his mother too' Emma inwardly smiles.

"But I'm just saying is that we should try to avoid taking extreme measures as much as we can. It won't look good on Henry, and will possibly traumatize him if we spill some children's blood right in front of him. Or anybody's blood for that matter. We should just focus on making sure he gets back to us safe and sound.

Regina scuffs and is about to walk out before Emma grabs her arm suddenly.

"And just so you know. I am willing to do whatever I can to get Henry back." She says before letting Regina go.

Regina gives her one last glance before walking away she says,

"I sure as hell hope so."


	2. Dancing in the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tamara has always had a complicated relationship with magic, and Greg is starting to have doubts.

" _Tamara!"_

" _Tamara!"_

" _TAMARA!"_

  _Tamara opened her eyes. Standing above her, the dark silhouette of an old woman in her mid-fifties surrounded by the yellow bright glare of the setting sun of Del Monte Forest, California, frowned down at her exhausted form._

" _Now Tamara, the day's barely over! Don't tell me you're worn out from collecting all those sea shells! We haven't even gotten any mushrooms for my stew yet!" the old woman scolded._

_Currently they are at Pebble Beach, where Tamara had begged her grandmother to come help her collect sea shells to make necklaces out of later. The old woman agreed on the grounds they later visit the pine forest to collect mushrooms for the family's famous mushroom soup. It was evening now. And after a long day of collecting sea shells and chasing the waves, Tamara was tired, but her grandmother still had one more thing to do._

" _But Grandma!" Tamara groaned, "Couldn't we just order a pizza?"_

_The old woman chuckled, "Yes I suppose, but then you wouldn't be able to taste my famous Gordon family recipe for mushroom soup. Don't worry, it'll just take a bit, then we'll head home. Besides whose fault was it to spend the entire day searching for sea shells and chasing the waves?"_

_Tamara huffs, "I wasn't chasing waves. I was playing with my friend."_

" _Your friend?"_

" _Ariel." answered the girl with a smile in her voice._

" _That's a very pretty name." smiled the old woman kindly._

" _She has red hair just like Ariel from 'The Little Mermaid' so I decided to call her that. That and she's a mermaid! She looked happy when I did." continued Tamara excitedly._

" _What do you mean you 'decided to call her that'? She doesn't have a name of her own? And a mermaid!?" The old woman stopped to look at her 9-year old grand-daughter with a raised eyebrow._

" _I know. I know. What I just said sounds crazy, but I'm serious! I really did see a mermaid! She had the tail and everything! She was very pretty too."_

_The grandmother frowned._

" _I'm serious!" insisted Tamara, "I didn't even believe mermaids were real until I saw one! And I swear grandma, I saw one!"_

" _Alright…" answered the old woman after a pause, "Maybe… you could show her to me tomorrow…"_

" _Okay!" smiled the nine-year old girl as she went back to following her grandmother to the car, oblivious to the strange look and pause that overcame the old woman, "I was planning on coming back tomorrow anyway! Oh grandma, you'll really like her! She's very sweet, but shy. And she doesn't really talk much, I'm not sure why."_

" _Okay sweetie. I can't wait to see. You know," The grandmother said, as she opened the car door for her granddaughter, "When I was little I always wanted to see a fairy."_

" _Really?" smiled the little girl, as her grandmother helped her with her seat belt and settled herself into the old Mercedes they owned._

" _Yup, and I did." The old woman smiled wanly as she checked her mirrors, her eyes becoming cloudy with memories, but Tamara didn't notice. She loved hearing her granny's stories about her days working as an archaeologist, traveling around the world and all the adventures she had. It made her dream of being a researcher and studying the old legends and tribal beliefs her ancestors had long ago._

_Most of all though, Tamara was glad her grandmother believed her. If there was anybody in the world who she can rely on to be on her side, it was her grandmother._

" _Did you, now? So you really do believe me?" The girl grinned, and the old woman laughed and shook her head momentarily making Tamara rethink her earlier thought and relief._

" _I never said that. I said I'll come tomorrow to see it. One can't just believe everything they are told. I have to see it first."_

" _Okay" sighed Tamara, but she understood. Her grandmother had been an archaeologist, and she was practical. She didn't take a person's work as fact unless she saw proof. Tamara was the same way._

" _But Tamara, even if what you say is true, I need you to remember to steer clear away from the magical things." Her grandmother's voice was serious, which confused Tamara._

" _Okay… But why?" Asked the little girl._

" _What I mean is that… magic isn't how it is from the books and T.V shows and movies you watch… You see… It's more sinister…" Her grandmother says and her eyes become cloudy again. Tamara tries to absorb what her grandmother has just said, but can't get her mind around it. Isn't magic supposed to be magical… good, making all your dreams come true?_

" _Magic, Tamara, destroys everything it touches."_

_With that, the wizened old woman turned on the engine of the car and drives around to the forest so that they could pick mushrooms for the stew, but the conversation lingers in both their minds as they focus on the task at hand. Both with differing points of views._

  


 

_After spending, what felt like several hours in the forest, dusk had finally settled in. Tamara had just plucked out her 25th mushroom. Her grandmother was just a few feet away collecting some of the mushrooms by the veil of mosses surrounding some trees. Just when she was about to return to her grandmother, she spotted something. A little sprite, or what she supposed was one._

_It had little beady black eyes, a small flat nose, and was about half the size of her little nine-year old body. The creature was blue with moss covering its body. Tamara blinked to make sure the image was still there. She must be imagining it, right?_

" _Grandma!" She called. "What is it, honey?" Her grandmother called back, intent on collecting her mushrooms. "There's a-"_

_She turned back. The sprite was gone…_

_Maybe she was imagining it._

_But then a bit away from where she was, past the large trunks of pine trees, she saw a ring of mushrooms surrounded by dead grass. It wasn't the ring that caught her eye though. It was the red-eyed bullfrog guarding the ring, and what was straddling the frog that caught her eye. The little black beady-eyed moss covered creature staring right at her._

" _Grandma! Look what I found!" Tamara cried excitedly as she raced through the trees._

" _Not too far now Tamara! You can get lost in these woods!" cried back her grandmother. Tamara on the other hand wasn't listening. She was too intent on trying to get to the creature so she could show it to her grandmother._

_Right when she came close to the ring, bright little lights started to appear, like fireballs floating in the air, and music, both haunting, beautiful, and festive, started to play. Within the ring, Tamara started to notice other creatures milling about in the circle along with the red-eyed bullfrog and the little sprite._

_They were laughing joyfully, jumping about, and dancing round and round, chanting and singing a song Tamara couldn't understand but found enchanting and beautiful that she was drawn to it. So captured by the beautiful tune and the enrapturing performance of these strange creatures, of all sizes, (some of them actually looked like fairies!) that she didn't notice her feet moving towards the ring or that she was suddenly standing within it until it was too late. All she knew, was suddenly she felt compelled to dance, and to join these little people in their merry fun._

_And so she did._

_She danced and danced in circles until she felt dizzy and nauseous and wanted to stop._

_Only she couldn't._

_No matter how much she wanted to fall down and rest, she couldn't stop her legs from moving. It was as if they had a mind of their own, or something was making them move, because she wasn't. Her feet after a time, had started feeling very sore, and she couldn't recall when exactly she expended so much energy for a time as she did now. Her shoes were off and her feet were starting to bleed._

_And still she couldn't stop dancing._

' _Why!? Why can't I stop!?' Tamara thought. Her feet felt like they were burning!_

_Laughter rang into the air, but they didn't sound so joyful and fun to her anymore._

_They were sinister._

_And the laughter kept going._

_These creatures…_

_For the first time since entering the circle, Tamara realized the strangeness of these creatures to become alarmed. At first, she had thought it was all her imagination, a dream, an illusion her mind conjured up to entertain herself. But now, with the feel of her uncontrollable moving legs, the unbearable heat._

_She knew. She knew now it was all real, and she was going to die._

_This wasn't pretend._

_These strange creatures, the blue sprite, the red-eyed bullfrog, the huge faced little old man that looked a bit like a troll, the faerie like creatures all around, hopping laughing little fuzz balls, tiny creatures all around some so gruesome, strange, and some beautiful and ethereal, even the little balls of lights that were creatures too (fairies?) they were real, and they were all around her._

_And the fire in the middle of the circle, the one they were dancing around, they were pushing her towards it. It billowed, so big when at first it was small, bright orange, and now an ominous blue then green. What was happening? Her eyes widened with realization and fear._

_They were going to burn her alive._

" _GRANDMA!" Tamara tried to cry out, but only a gasp escaped from her. She couldn't breathe, and she was so hot. Oh God! She was going to die!_

 " _TAMARA!" A voice cried out._

 

 

_TAMARA!_

 

 

 

Her eyes snapped opened. Above her was her fiance, pale faced and worried. She was lying on the sand by the beach.

"Tamara!" Greg Mendel's wide eyes searched hers frantically, "You alright?"

"Yeah…" Tamara blinked and rubbed her eyes.

"You had me worried there… I don't know what happened exactly… One moment we were jumping in that portal with the kid… And the next I'm with my dad again. We're camping again and then…there was this large boom and there was Storybrooke and..." Greg exhaled, his voice strained with emotion.

"I swear Tam it was like it was happening all over again."

Greg shook his head again. He looked emotionally shaken.

"It all felt so real!"

An exhale of breath.

"Like I was actually there again. Experiencing  _everything_  again! Only it was like I was both aware and unaware of what was going on. Everything that happened, I wasn't surprised. I knew… And yet… I couldn't stop it…"

Greg looked at Tamara. A broken look.

"I couldn't save him Tam. Dad died. Only this time I didn't have the hope I had last time to at least believe there was a chance he could still be alive. That I could come back and maybe he could be locked up somewhere. I don't know. I guess deep down I always had that feeling. I just hoped though." Greg shook his head, his voice strained with emotion, and though Tamara couldn't see his face because he was turned away from her, she could tell there were tears in his eyes. Despite the fact that they knew there was every possibility that Greg's father was probably dead, Regina's admission that he was dead still left a fresh wound in his heart.

It was really a pity.

She did warned him. Gave him every logical reason, and told him all she knew of the evils of magic, and he himself was committed to the cause as well but deep down she knew there was still a naïve part of Greg's that thought that there was still good in magic.

That the Evil Queen had goodness in her heart.

It was laughable.

But then again she didn't have personal memories with the woman so she shouldn't judge harshly. The Queen after all was evil. It only fit that she would be kind and tender to an innocent kid to get away with whatever it was she was doing. The real pity was that Greg and his father had to get stuck in the middle of it.

"I swear I'll kill her this time."

It appeared her partner in crime was finally over with his emotional breakdown.

"Where's the kid?" asked Tamara after looking around.

"What!? He's not…?" Greg looked around while Tamara gathered their soaked things.

"Come on, we better go before the spooky things in the night comes and get us" Tamara said, and turned to find Greg's blank face looking back, "You know. Like the Boogeyman."

Greg scoffed, and stood up as well trying to keep up to Tamara's pace.

"Hey slow down there. I'm sure the kid haven't gone far-"

"No. You don't understand. In this place, being close to either the forest or the sea is dangerous."

Greg gave her a look, "There's forest and sea all around us."

"Exactly."

"…"

"Which is why we shouldn't be in one place too long. We're in enemy's territory remember."

"Okay… So why had the Home Office asked us to come here then? And with a kid no less? What's he for…?" Greg looked at Tamara.

"It doesn't matter. We were ordered to take him here, and that's what we do."

"Yeah I know… but-"

"But what Greg!?" Tamara snapped taking both Greg and her off guard.

"He's just a kid Tam!" shouted back an equally irate Greg, and breaking off Tamara's thought.

"What does he have to do with anything!? He doesn't deserve to be in the middle of this! This is our battle. Our fight! I didn't sign up to this just to kidnap a kid and use him to who knows what! I don't like the idea of a kid being hurt in this."

Tamara looked at him and sighed, "That kid… is no ordinary kid. He's important in our cause." She turned around, "And don't forget whose son he is."

"He's not the Evil Queen's son. He's just a boy who-!" Greg started vehemently until Tamara cut him off.

"I'm not talking about her. I'm talking about Emma Swan."

"Emma Swan?"

Greg blinked.

"Yes." Tamara answered in a quiet solemn voice as they walk past the sand of the shore to the dark forest that surrounds the beach.

"You saw what she did back in Storybrooke with the Queen. She stopped the trigger from destroying Storybrooke when even the Evil Queen couldn't be able to." Tamara gives Greg a look that pretty much says 'Remember what you're fighting against' all over it, and it makes Greg's stomach queasy.

He isn't sure what's right and what's wrong anymore.

"Emma Swan is dangerous. Her entire family is."

Tamara stops and looks at him intensely.

"Don't forget who we're fighting against. He may be a kid, but he's magic and we swore we'd help destroy everything magic, for the sake of those in danger of having their lives destroyed by it… just like how our lives were destroyed by it…"

There is a silence between them before Tamara decides to continue walking on without Greg as he contemplates her words.

Tamara had been the one who introduced him to the Home Office, and since then he's been faithful to their cause, not just because his life was ruined by magic, but to uncover the truth and let the whole world know about the evil that coexisted in their land. And even if they weren't allowed to tell anyone of what they actually did, (though Greg did plan on showing some of the video clips of what he had of Regina and the man named 'Gold' using their magic to some news stations, the internet, or anyone willing to listen and spread the word that there were some bunch of psychopaths in our world with unnatural powers capable of destroying and hurting the lot of them) Greg was content with the fact that every mission, every cause in destroying the unholy magic that existed in their land, was one step in keeping the world a safer place for people.

So that no kid would ever experience losing their parents so early because of some witch trying to find her happy ending when clearly she was underserving of one, and for all those who had lost loved ones because of magic and couldn't get the justice they deserve because of disbelief or fear.

No, Greg was not going to let another kid suffer like he had long ago.

Not if he could help it.

Still taking away the kid from his family all by the order of "The Home Office", the organization he swore oath to serve and obey in order to destroy magic, to prevent the thing he didn't want anybody to suffer through, felt like he was doing just that.

Destroying a family.

Greg sighed. Tamara had a point. This was a war they signed themselves in.

There was always going to be casualties.

A whoosh of cold air suddenly permeated around his body inside and out, and a high pitched laughter resounded around him giving him even more chills.

The high pitch voices giggled.

 

 

 

 

_So you think we're evil do you?_

_You have_ **_no_ ** _idea what_ **_evil_ ** _truly is!_

 

 

 

 

Deep in the woods, miles away from the shore, a young boy was strolling along looking wildly in every direction. Strange critters and noises were all around. The eerie sounds of the dark forest permeated the air, and then there was the occasional glowing orbs that seemed to blink back at him in the trees and bushes. It took him a while to realize that the orbs were none other than eyes glowing in the dark staring at him as he passed along.

And the forest had eyes everywhere.

It was giving Henry the creeps.

Then again, this whole situation was getting his nerves on the edge. Here he was in what seemed to be a jungle forest with no way to get home or any clue as to where home even was.

He was lost.

Just  **_great_ **.

Henry sighed and sat down on a rock. If only he had magical powers like his mothers. Maybe he could cast a spell that could magically bring about a magical GPS system that could tell him where he was and how to get out. Unless there was a magical smart phone out there. He could use that instead. Find a way to get in contact with his family.

Speaking of his family.

They should be here about now. If he knew anything, it was that his family would go the edge of the world to find him. Especially his mother, Regina Mills. The fact that she almost destroyed his hometown just to keep him all for herself was proof of how real possessive his mom can get. It wasn't all that comforting a thought, but considering he was now lost in the middle of the woods in who knows what realm, the idea of his magically psycho but well-meaning mother was probably set on making sure he was back safe in her arms again was reassuring. Kind of.

All he had to do was steer clear of the psychos before then and then they could all figure out how to get out of here together.

He only hope it won't take  _too_  long.

He wasn't sure how long it would be before they woke up from their nap. Or if they'd woke up at all. For some reason when he got out of the water after they jumped the portal the magic bean created, he found the two magic-hating agents passed out and unconscious. He wasn't sure what to make of it, only to logically think the two obviously never used magical transportation before and it was probably too much for them.

 _Heh, what a bunch of wimps,_  Henry smirked, never mind the fact that this was technically his first time in using magical transportation too…

Maybe it was karma?

Whatever the reason, he was glad it gave him time to get away from them and he hoped that they never woke up to find him gone because that obviously wouldn't be good.

Henry chuckled.

The situation was actually kind of funny when one ignored the fact that he was lost and his parents weren't anywhere near. Maybe he could make the most of this after all… before his mother found him again and locked him in his room again with no way out besides climbing out the window.

One would think that after breaking a curse that brought memories back to your long-lost relatives (kind of) everything would go great, but no, things just got more complicated.

Henry sighed. He never realized it. How stupid he was, that in his hero worship of his biological mother and father he was unintentionally pushing away the woman who raised him. Who fed him, tucked him in bed, wiped away the tears when he became scared or sad, who had always took care of him with no complaint…

Who also locked him away in his room, who pushed him to be something he was not, who labelled him crazy and pushed him away in the same way by not believing him, or at least covering up the truths for her own benefit.

And he did the same thing too even after he knew exactly how it felt. He almost lost his mother, and he didn't realize how much he needed her, wanted her to be as much a part of his new/old family despite all she's done and who she was until there came a time when he almost lost her.

When she almost sacrificed herself for him.

_You were willing to die to save us. That makes you a hero. And now we're gonna be heroes *_

That's when it made him realize. The book was wrong. He knew his mother well and she  **was not**  evil.

Crazy yes, but not evil.

Henry suddenly stood up. There was a rustle in the bushes nearby. Well, there were always rustles now and then but one can never be too sure. There was always a possibility that the two stooges woke up from their evening nap and were tracking him again. Henry gathered his things. Now was not the time to contemplate his new life, or what  _his new life was_.

 _No! Don't think that way Mills!_ Henry shook his head to get the negative thoughts out, "They'll find you. They'll always find you. That's practically the Charming family motto! Moms' coming any moment now."

Henry ran faster. It seemed like the forest was suddenly buzzing alive, as every time Henry moved his legs faster, the noises became louder, critters, chatters,  _was that giggling?_

And there seemed to be no end in sight in the dark forest. The farther he walked, there were only more and more trees.

"There has to be an end to this forest somewhere." Henry muttered under his breath as he clutched his backpack and plowed through the forest ignoring the eyes and chitter chatter.

A voice giggled

_'Run as fast as you can child, but the hopes of you seeing an end is mild.'_

"Who? Who said that?" Henry stuttered as he looked around.

The voice gave a high pitched cackle.

 _Who said that?_  It mocked.

"I mean it! Who are you? Show yourself! I'm not afraid of you!" Henry yelled.

_'You are a rather poor liar aren't you child.'_

The voice chuckled.  _Very well then, if that is your wish._

The chatter around the woods suddenly grew louder, and the eyes hidden under leaves suddenly seemed bigger. They were coming closer!

_Fwoosh!_

Leaves suddenly flew everywhere as a swarm of what looked like a billion insects surrounded the poor startled boy.

"…Okay maybe that wasn't entirely a good idea." Henry said before he ran as fast as his legs could take him while a swarm of deadly insects buzzed after him through the woods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * This is a quote from Henry to Regina in the end when she was about to sacrifice herself in the end of "And Straight on Til Morning"
> 
>  
> 
> Author's Note: Okay so this is Chapter 2! Sorry if the dialogue or narrative seems to run too long, or if you can't seem to picture the setting and all. Or if the grammar is bad. I know there's a lot of run on sentences. I'm sorry those are my weaknesses, plus I'm writing it like I'm watching it on T.V so I get a little confused with the past/present conjectures and stuff. Grammar is my weakness! Hehe! I just started writing and this is my first fic, plus it's been a long time since I read a book.
> 
>  
> 
> I'm also sorry if Henry seems a bit out of character. I don't really understand his character all too well, as to me the show seems to focus way too much on some characters rather than others probably due to popularity or the actors or the fact that creating stories for those characters are just easy, I don't know. I know Henry may seem a little too dull, or too mature here. I've only recently seen him the new season and he's just so mature isn't he?! Also I wanted him to feel a bit guilty for how he treated Regina in Season 2. I figure he'd feel a bit guilty for starting all this and pushing his mother away, so don't expect too much of an optimistic, carefree (maybe slightly), cheery Henry. This Henry is very serious and is going to start getting rid of his previous illusions to what being a hero means. Here he is going to grow up. Regina and Emma are going to be terrified. DAN! DAN! DAAAN!
> 
> Ha! Ha! I so hope I can fulfill that promise x)
> 
>  
> 
> Be on the lookout for Chapter 3: The Slaugh!

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write Season 3 the way i imagined it before the season started and a focus more on the Neverland characters. I thought Neverland was going to be a whole season like how the Snow White story was for Season 1. How disappointed I was to see it ended so quickly.
> 
> This arc while being about Neverland should be more about Regina and Emma. Because hey this about motherhood in action, and these two make quite the pair.
> 
> Pan isn't going to be the only enemy they face. There's going to be a lot more, and they're going to use a lot of their wits about them to get their son back so stay tuned.
> 
> Oh also major difference is probably Pan himself. He's going to be different from the show for obvious reasons but also I'm not confident I can write a completely evil villain out of him since I have fallen in love with Darling Pan recently so hehe yeah I can't make him evil... I'll try. I am interested in the sociopathic mindset of a child, and Peter Pan does show traits of being a sociopath in real life. So yeah tough cookie to write. Aside from also giving him another backstory.
> 
> Not to mention I'm very interested in the Saving Neverland idea and the Magic vs Science idea so keeping Peter Pan evil is going to be difficult due to his trials (his goals are selfish yes but in the end his selfish goals does benefit many groups of people whose lives will be impacted from the destruction of Neverland) before the gang comes on Neverland shores.
> 
> Captain Hook is initially giddy about it because you know he hates the brat... And what a disappointment it was not to see much of the Hook and Pan relationship. It's probably going to be different from what the show implied a bit about it due to the different backstory I have planned. I'll try to keep him to the character he is in Season 2 and keep some of the stuff we got of him from Season 3 like his older brother Liam, but that's where is ends (and maybe the deal with Hades he makes...). My backstory for him is going to be way different from Once's version. You'll be surprised at how significant in this story he's going to be... and he may not be on their side as Regina thinks. Just a warning. Like I said more enemies are lurking in that island.
> 
> And maybe Rumplestiltskin too once I figure out a backstory with him and Pan.
> 
> I plan on this being a very long fic.
> 
> I'm really selling myself a lot aren't I. I hope I can deliver.. but this is my idea for now. Expect more edits on this edit lol.
> 
> No actual ships for the moment except the cannon ones (This includes past Swanfire because that was cannon at the moment of Season 3 since it was a past relationship. Will this mean that Emma will end up with Neal in the end of this fic. I don't know. I'm not focusing on romance, but their relationship will be explored because there's a history and they do have some issues to work out I guess. Really need to do a Season 2 rewatch when I get to Neal.), and Darling Pan. That's cannon for me. Of course it's not going to be perfect.
> 
> Emma's love interest depends entirely on the version of Emma I'm writing. I hope I'm not writing her OOC. Please tell me if I do, and give me some pointers on how not too. I'm rewatching season 1 at the moment and close to finishing. (Season 1 is my favorite out of all the seasons, and watching it makes me want to start another fic lol, so I stopped so I could focus on finishing this one. If I ever do.). Mostly the only love that's cannon for Emma in this fic is the one with Henry. That's definately constant. You can read her interactions with the other characters however you want I don't mind.
> 
> So if I'm not missing anything...
> 
> Operation #SaveHenry is a go!


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